Novak Djokovic believes a fight with a fan gave him the motivation to defeat Denis Kudla in their US Open match.
The Serb has been been hampered by a niggling shoulder injury which forced him to arrive late for his pre-match practice session and has reduced his chances of claiming his fourth title at Flushing Meadows.
After beginning his warm-up, the world No.1 appeared to become embroiled in a heated discussion with a match-goer.
Djokovic eventually breezed through the encounter, winning 6-3 6-4 6-2 to set-up a last 16 clash with Stan Wawrinka.
Have a look at the footage below…
“Just had a little chat,’ said Djokovic in his post match press conference when asked about the incident.
“To have a drink,’ he added. “I liked the guy. I’m going to buy him a drink. “We’ll keep it between us. But he definitely helped me. He doesn’t even know, but he did help me.”
Pressed on what the fan said to him, Djokovic added: ‘Well, if you have the video, you’ll hear I guess. “As I said, I’m not going to talk about it. I think he did me a favor. Even maybe he didn’t want to do me a favor, he did me a favor, big favour.”
Source: TalkSport.com Tennis